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Tuesday, August 4, 2020

SISTER VILMA DE SOUZA 4

A BRAZILIAN WOMAN SNATCHED FROM THE DEPTHS OF WITCHCRAFT BY THE LORD JESUS 
PART 4


I hadn't yet received any teaching about the Word, nothing about God, Jesus, the Gospel. So I started to live like I saw other people do. I gave alms, I helped the poor, I looked for ways to be pleasing to God. I knew that God was contemplating this heart that had become sincere. Still He had better plans for me. I learned to respect and love God through Jesus Christ.

Just like a newborn in the faith, I fed on all of my own discoveries. I started a new lifestyle. I had found my reason for living. My goal was to be pleasing to God. I wanted to thank Him for His immense love, I needed to serve Him, I felt the need to serve Him in whatever I did or whatever I owned. It was a necessity for me to show Him my gratitude. After all, I had finally found the peace and love that I lacked. I had found a faithful, trustworthy Friend.

But, for lack of knowledge, I thought that the best way to serve God was to enter a convent. After several attempts, I was received by a Mother Superior. I told her about my experience and my desire to dedicate my whole life to God. The Mother Superior told me that no convent would accept me because I had been married and "defiled" by a man.

The answer frustrated me. But my enthusiasm was still there, I asked her if there was another possibility for me to serve God. She asked me to volunteer in an orphanage because by helping the children, I would be serving God.

I found an orphanage where I was welcomed by a nun who coldly told me that she didn't need anyone. I tried to argue, but she refused my help. My frustration increased as I found it difficult to serve God. Despite everything, in my heart, my desire to serve God was great. Although I was often discouraged, something encouraged me to continue. I always gave alms, I helped everyone I could. This included offering songs that people liked, popular songs, or classical songs.

One day, while entering the refectory of my work, I was singing. A colleague said to me, "You are very happy eh?!”

When I told her the reasons for my joy, she laughed, "You don't think God will accept something from people like you? He has His own songs.”

I was very hurt. I was even more disappointed later when I learned that this girl was Protestant. She could have been an instrument of God, to guide me in the knowledge of the truth, because I was a new Christian. But on the contrary, her lack of understanding almost destroyed me. She never spoke to me about Jesus, the few words she spoke to me entered like poison into my heart.

In this weakness, Satan provoked me, "Stupid! Do you really believe that after wallowing so much in sin, you can sing anything and believe that God is going to give you His attention?”

My mind, stimulated by the Accuser, remembered all my sins. I was ashamed and bitter for having sinned so much that I was despised by God. After all, this young Protestant made it clear to me, that she and not me, served God, that she knew what God loved, and that it could not be the song of this "worldly singer."

The black hole of depression came back to me devastatingly because I had put all my hope and faith in Jesus. I was rejected from the convent, rejected from the orphanage, and now my way of singing to God has been scorned. It has been a very long afternoon. I had this impression that people were passing near me thinking, "Look at this sinner who is trying to sing for God.”

On the way home, passing near a bar, Satan advised me, "Come in, have a drink, buy some cigarettes since you are so unhappy!”

I refused these thoughts, because ever since Jesus condescended to me to change my life, I had developed an aversion to these things.

I ran home, walked into my room, and sat on my bed. Consciously, I felt my body slide. I tried to hold on to something, but I couldn't grab anything. I was slipping into a dark abyss, I didn't want it, I struggled so hard not to go that I felt deep fatigue.

I then moaned, "O my God, I can't stand the darkness anymore… I don't want… show me your light!”

The fall ceased and once again I was able to contemplate this strong light that came from above. This light enveloped me in a pleasant temperature. I tried to stare at this light without success, but a wonderfully sweet and firm voice came out, "Come to Me, you who are tired of carrying your burdens and I will give you rest.”

I did not know the meaning of these words, so I told myself that I had a guide of light in front of me communicating with me. So I said to Him, "What is your name?”

"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.”

I still did not understand, I repeated the question and received the same answer.

I changed the question, "In which center (spiritualist) can I meet you?”

"Examine the scriptures. You will find me there.”

"The writings? What is that?”

"You'll find them at church. You will find Me there. I have a great work to do with you.”

"An artwork? But I never did that. My father was a bricklayer once, but I don't know anything about it.”

The voice left insisting, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. Look for Me at the Christian church. I'll talk to you there.”

I was thinking, trying to find the spirit that had spoken to me. In the morning, quite early in the morning, I asked my mother, if she knew of a guide called "the Way, the Truth and the Life," because I wanted to serve Him. But she had never heard of someone called "Chemin (Portuguese for Way)." I went to work with several questions in my mind and had my doubts.

“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.. ”

Throughout the week, those words hammered in my head until I remembered an old fact, when I was a teenager hanging out with disreputable people. We knocked on house doors, rang doorbells, and threw stones at people's roofs. One day we went to a poor house, the door was open. There were people on their knees screaming out loud. So we also came in to shout with them. This made them all run away.

So a man approached our group, all my friends fled but I was caught. I thought he was going to beat me, but he kindly invited me to attend the meeting. It was actually a church and the man was its pastor. So although I was still a witch then, the attitude of this man towards me, made me ashamed of my behavior. There were only 4 walls and one of them had caught my attention because it was written "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.”

At that moment, God made me remember this episode in my life. Nothing happens for nothing. I decided to return to this place because they would have an explanation of this sentence and the pastor could give me the name of the author. I went there, the church was closed but I was told it would be open at night, for a meeting to which I was invited.

I spent hours choosing an outfit, ended up arriving late wearing extravagant clothes. When I saw everyone dressed in plain clothes, without makeup, I wondered if these people were disgusted with life.

But looking at their faces closely, I observed an inner peace in them. I really liked seeing this. I was trying to understand the place, the clothes and the customs of these people.

The same man who had held my arms years before, took the black book and announced that he was going to read the Bible in Matthew 11: 28, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

I almost passed out with fear. Then the pastor asked that everyone open the Bible in John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

I couldn't contain my tears. It was Jesus who communicated with me! The eyes of my intelligence were starting to open, and some things were starting to make sense. These were the words of Jesus; the fireball, the force that did not allow Satan to destroy me the other night,… the gaze of Jesus… what joy!

During the service, some women began to speak in another language and called out, "Gloria Gloria!"

I thought they were calling a woman "Gloria," but without me realizing it, they were expressing glory to God. But since I didn't understand this, I looked towards the door, thinking that a woman named Gloria would come in and I thought that this Gloria was very important. But no one entered.

Nobody noticed me, although I was wearing a miniskirt, not even the men. But all were crying, calling this Gloria of God.

During this time, the preacher was talking about deep things from my past, things that no one knew. I was alarmed. I had never been to such a place. Tears rolled down my face when I realized that it was really Jesus who had spoken to me in my room. I looked around, but they all had their eyes closed and prayed as the pastor made my past public.

He was talking about the infidelity of the human being living without God. But Satan didn't waste his time. He sat down next to me.

"Stop being naive, this man is telling your story in public, can't you see that he's trying to shame you? What about those awful good women? This atmosphere is not yours. Get out, get up, insult everyone and go!”

I waited for the opportunity to get out of there and run away. But God resisted me. The words came back in my head "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” I told myself that the Son of the Most High spoke personally to the sinner that I am. I stayed… I cried again. Peace has returned again.

The pastor whose first name I knew later, Milton Bengaly again opened the black book and read, "Today I call heaven and earth to witness against you. I have placed before you the life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, that you may live, you and your seed, to love the Lord your God, to obey His voice, and to cling to Him, for on this depends your life and the prolongation of your days, and thus you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." (Deut 30:19-20)

After the reading, the pastor introduced the book as “The Scriptures.” It was the book that Jesus had for me to find and discover. The pastor told me that the Scriptures were the Word of God and that He had to give it to me tonight. Rivers of tears flowed down my cheeks, I finally understood everything.

The Almighty loved me. He accepted me as He found me. He gave me a proposal for life when I had worked so much for death. The pastor's words came out of his mouth like a fire that came to burn my body. He described my whole spiritual life.

He told me about Satan's plan to destroy me and God's perfect plan to save me. All of these words were like bombs in my heart. New horizons of understanding opened up to me. I began to manifest a desire to love God more than anything. The pastor stopped speaking.

He asked that all pray that Satan does not prevent the operation that God was producing in the life of someone present in the church.

They began to pray speaking in a language that I did not understand.

Yet I still heard Satan saying to me, "Get out of there, quickly. Otherwise, you'll look like those women who make you cry. You are not meant to be here, it is not your place!”

I tried to tell him, on the contrary, I feel good, the atmosphere is healthy, beneficial to my soul.

But he insisted, "Go away!”

I started to get up to go out when a young woman, her eyes totally closed, speaking in this strange dialect walked towards the door, extended her hands blocking the passage.

I quit without knowing what to do. The Devil asked me to hit her. I clenched my fists willing to attack, but my hands couldn't touch this youngster. There was like an invisible wall between us. I tried a second time, with the same result. Suddenly I heard everyone say, AMEN!

The one who was leading the worship turned to me with authority, "The Lord Jesus Christ brought you here tonight, for He has a great work to do through your life.”

Artwork? I still did not understand the meaning of this word.

"God will make you a fisher of men, you will pray for the sick and the oppressed. You won't get out of here until you make a public decision for Jesus. Accept Him as your Savior, otherwise, Satan will still have a hold on you. He is waiting for you outside to destroy you.”

I looked outside, and indeed I saw the Devil Lucio there, standing in the middle of the street, all dressed in black, looking desperate. He was waving me to go out. Inside me was a great battle.

The congregation began to sing a hymn,

…. At the end of the work of this life
When death will be by your side
Towards what destiny will your soul go
What will be your future home?
My friend today you have a choice
Life, death, which one will you choose
Tomorrow will be too late
Today Christ wants to set you free

I wondered why I still had to raise my hands and make a public profession of faith when I had already accepted Christ. I tried to raise my hands to make a profession of faith, my hands were heavy as lead. They all continued to pray. The young person who had blocked the road approached me to help me raise my hands. Embarrassed, I accepted.

No sooner did she touch my hands, they were free. I raised both hands, my tired and oppressed soul, finally fully surrendered publicly to the One and True God creator of heaven and earth. I felt it was not enough, I knelt down, I bowed to the ground before God. From that moment it was Jesus who totally dominated my life.

The women of the church made a special prayer for me. Then they came to kiss me, I felt great love coming from them.

They all said to me, “Welcome to the Kingdom of Heaven!”

One of them, the pastor's wife, gave me a Bible. A little awkward, I told her that I would have liked to receive the "Scriptures." She smiled and replied that that was the Scriptures, The Holy Bible where I will find the Gospels which tell the life of Jesus.

I left radiant and happy. I felt like I was holding several diamonds in my hands. I laughed, I cried at the same time on the road. I was a new creature when I came home that night.

CONTINUED IN PART 5